Princess Cruises Just Increased Service Charges… Passengers Are Furious!

Princess Cruises has introduced several changes that passengers need to know about. In this video we break down the latest Princess cruise news, including a new fee for the Princess Medallion, increased onboard service charges, and a major Caribbean deployment involving Emerald Princess and Crown Princess.

Princess Cruises has confirmed that the cost to ship the Princess Medallion to guests’ homes has doubled, rising from $10 to $20 per address from February 27, 2026. The Princess Medallion is the small wearable device used across the fleet instead of a traditional cruise card, allowing passengers to unlock their cabin door, order drinks anywhere on the ship, and make purchases onboard. Guests can still collect their Princess Medallion at the cruise terminal for free, but the change has sparked debate among regular cruisers.

At the same time, Princess Cruises has increased the automatic service charge applied to many onboard purchases. The fee, which applies to drinks, specialty dining, spa treatments and certain onboard services, has risen from 18% to 20%. While this service charge is separate from the daily crew appreciation gratuities, it is another example of the growing list of extra costs that cruise passengers are noticing.

In this cruise news update we also discuss Princess Cruises’ decision to position Crown Princess and Emerald Princess in Barbados for the 2027 and 2028 Caribbean seasons. These sailings will allow travellers from the UK and Europe to fly directly to Barbados rather than starting their Caribbean cruises in traditional US ports such as Miami or Fort Lauderdale. The move raises interesting questions about changing travel trends and why cruise lines are repositioning ships like Crown Princess and Emerald Princess away from US homeports.

We also share our thoughts and reactions to these developments as part of our ongoing Princess Cruises review coverage, discussing what these changes mean for passengers and the wider cruise industry.

If you’re interested in Princess cruise news, cruise news, and honest Princess Cruises reviews, make sure you subscribe to Sail Away for more investigations, cruise updates and industry analysis.
And if you want to see one of the most shocking cruise stories we’ve covered recently, watch our previous video where a cruise line forced passengers off their ship in the middle of a war zone.

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Addendum: Information discussed in this video is accurate at the time of recording, and based on public information. Cruise line policies, pricing and deployments can change at any time.

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